North Macedonia

The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) is a country in the Balkans region of Europe. Macedonia peacefully left Yugoslavia in 1991, becoming an independent nation, and in 1993 it joined the United Nations; however, it has been embroiled in both ethnic and cultural crises since then. Greece and Macedonia had a rivalry due to the use of the name "Macedonia" to describe the small republic; most of its inhabitants were Slavs and not Greeks like the original people of Macedon, and Greek Macedonia had more of a unique Macedonian culture than the former Yugoslav republic itself. In 2001, ethnic tensions turned into civil war when the Macedonian UCK rose up to fight for the rights of the Muslim Albanians in the country, with veterans of the Kosovo War fighting against the Macedonian government until a ceasefire was agreed upon - sporadic fighting has continued. The country had a population of 2,062,162 people in 2014, with 64.2% being Macedonians, 25.2% Albanians, 3.9% Turks, 2.7% Romani, 1.8% Serbs, and 2.2% others; 64.7% of the population is Orthodox Christian, 33.3% Muslim, and 3% other religions.